The SPEED Project: SPEEDing up Research and Development towards High-contrast Imaging Instruments for the E-ELT

An overview is presented of the Segmented Pupil Experiment for Exoplanet Detection (SPEED) testbench. This is an advanced facility in development at the Lagrange Laboratory that will address several of the most critical issues affecting high-contrast imaging for the next generation of optical/near-infrared telescopes. The SPEED testbed can be used to investigate practical solutions for broadband coronography on asymmetric, unfriendly apertures, enabling algorithmic or optical approaches to be developed to minimise segment effects and pupil discontinuity.